SEZs must diversify beyond U.S. market and IT services: CEA

Special Economic Zones (SEZs) must move from IT/ITeS dominance into the categories the world contests – fine chemicals, electronic components, energy transition materials, and precision engineering, said V. Anantha Nageswaran, Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India.

“Build technology and IP, not cost arbitrage. Cost advantages erode; defensible technology compounds. Invest in R&D, design patents and skills inside the zone. The exit from a tax holiday must be an entry into an innovation moat,” he said in the 43rd Madras Export Processing Zone (MEPZ) foundation day lecture on the topic, ‘Future of SEZs: Enabling India’s Next Export Growth Wave’.